


how julie molina had a cliche summer camp romance without even trying

by goldenretrievers46



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Found Family, JATP Secret Santa, Mutual Pining, alex and reggie ship juke, background willex, basically julie and the boys meet at music camp and become friends, for a little bit - Freeform, lots of romance cliches, onstage chemistry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28306290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenretrievers46/pseuds/goldenretrievers46
Summary: Ever since she can remember, Julie has wanted to go to Central State Music Camp. She is expecting to have fun with Flynn and learn new skills from the instructors. However, her expectations change when a cute guitarist by the name of Luke knocks her over in the registration lane and invites her to join his band for the week. Teen romcom cliches ensue.//for jatpdaily's secret santa 2020.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 21
Kudos: 105
Collections: jatpdaily secret santa 2020





	1. Sunday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gingermaggie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingermaggie/gifts).



> Hi everyone! This fic is the product of a Secret Santa and three days of frantic writing (yes, i wrote this in three days, do not ask me how lol). Much of this is inspired by my own summer camp experiences- camp crushes are a special breed for sure.   
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoy reading this! What Maggie wanted was: "emphasis on the band friendship/found family, the guys shipping julie/luke, the julie/luke onstage chemistry."  
> I hope I delivered!

how julie molina had a cliche summer camp romance without even trying:  
characters: julie, luke, reggie, alex, flynn   
setting: central state music camp, summer of 2019.

SUNDAY  
Julie Molina sat in the backseat of her family’s Toyota Rav 4 next to her best friend Flynn, almost bursting through the roof of the car with excitement. It would probably have been a bad idea to do so, considering that her dad was driving 70 down the freeway, but sometimes exciting times call for drastic measures. Now, why was Julie so excited, you may ask? Well, the simple answer was this. Julie had wanted to go to Central State Music Camp as long as she could remember after hearing her mom tell stories about all the fun she’d had there. In the past however, something had always come up, and Julie hadn’t been able to attend. This year, all that had changed. She had auditioned for a scholarship to be a part of the garage band program, and she’d won it! Afterwards, she’d promptly convinced Flynn to sign up for the audio technology program so that they could room together, and the rest was history. Today, they were making the four hour drive to camp. Julie couldn’t wait. 

“Julie, can you stop bouncing your leg? You’re like me on a bunch of soda,” Flynn said in annoyance.

Julie promptly stopped, even though she hadn’t known she’d started. 

“You on soda is definitely a whole different beast,” Julie replied.

“I mean, caffeine is a drug,” Flynn agreed.

“I’m just so pumped, it’s hard to sit still,” Julie said. 

“I know, it’s going to be so much fun. Oh, and you know what else a little birdie told me?” 

“What?” Julie laughed, rolling her eyes. 

“Nick’s gonna be there. He’s playing saxophone in the concert band,” Flynn revealed.

“WHAT!” Julie yelped. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?!” she growled. 

Flynn laughed, although Julie thought it sounded more like a cackle. 

“I thought I’d surprise you,” Flynn said, feigning innocence.

Flynn was not innocent by any stretch of the imagination. It was like this: Julie had had a crush on Nick for over a year now. His hair always looked so swoopy, and everytime he played guitar in music class, she got those little fluttery things in her stomach. The only problem was that he was dating Carrie Wilson, Julie’s ex-best friend (who would also unfortunately be at camp), and every time she tried to talk to him she ended up tripping over her words so bad that she might as well sign her death certificate. So for Flynn to keep this valuable bit of information away from her until just now was betrayal at its finest. 

“You are the worst,” Julie grumbled. 

“Hey, maybe you’ll actually be able to talk to him this time, instead of trying to impress him by calling his Gibson a Fender,” Flynn said. 

Julie sighed. “I’m a pianist, okay?” 

Flynn had that mischievous twinkle in her eye. “I’m just saying… you can’t do much worse than that.”

Julie supposed Flynn was right. It wasn’t even like she had much of a chance with Nick anyway, but a girl could dream. She could hear her dad chuckling in the front seat, much to her embarrassment. After that little piece of information was revealed, the drive wasn’t too interesting. Julie and Flynn scrolled through Instagram together, gossiping about people from their class, and listened to music. Occasionally, her dad would butt into their conversation with his own little quips and opinions, which Julie would pretend to get annoyed by. They stopped at one point at a gas station to refuel and stretch, but otherwise the trip was easy and efficient. Eventually, Julie could see the sign ahead of them, partially obscured by trees, which read “Central State Music Camp”. They had finally arrived! After obtaining a parking spot, they hopped out of their car. The first thing Julie noticed was how clean and fresh the air was. Living in the city had accustomed her to polluted air, but CSMC was out in the country, hidden amongst hills, rivers, and trees. It was a nice change. The second thing she noticed was how beautiful the campus was. There was a large auditorium-like building to her left, and in front of her was a large lawn with dormitories arranged in a semi-circle around it. She could see other buildings in the distance- a dining hall, an office, smaller practice buildings. This was going to be her home for the next week. She turned to Flynn, who had an excited grin all over her face. 

“Oh my god, Jules! This is awesome! I’m so glad you convinced me to come,” Flynn said. 

“Me too. We’re going to learn so much,” Julie replied. 

“Alright, girls. Let’s go get registered,” her dad was saying now, Flynn’s duffel bag on his back. 

Julie and Flynn grabbed their other luggage from the back of the car and followed Ray up a sidewalk and into the auditorium building, which had a large sign reading “Bradford Hall”. Ugh, the line was long. It stretched from the lobby down onto the stage, and Julie just knew it was going to take forever. She turned to complain to Flynn about it, when suddenly something shaped distinctly like a guitar case smacked into her back. Now, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but Julie happened to be carrying the heaviest backpack she had ever worn in her entire life, and her balance was already off kilter. Before she could even find her orientation again, she was falling to the ground, the binder she was carrying flying from her hands. The fall itself wasn’t too bad, but her binder was splayed out in front of her, the rings snapped and papers everywhere. She was sure she had looked like an idiot in the way she fell as well, and she kind of wanted to lay there forever, her face buried in the dusty carpet. But before she could make any sort of plans regarding how to come out of the fall not looking like a total fool, someone was talking to her. 

“Oh god, hey, are you okay?” they were saying. 

Julie pushed herself out of the prone position to find a concerned teenage boy with remarkably bad hair bending over her, the offending guitar case on his back. 

“I think I’m fine,” she replied, annoyed. 

“That was totally an accident,” he said, beginning to collect all her stray papers. “It’s just really crowded in here.”

Whatever annoyance Julie had felt with the boy for knocking her over began to fade as she saw how sincere his eyes were. He looked so worried that she could hardly be upset with him for embarrassing her. 

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, standing up.

Oh god. Everyone was looking at them. 

“Hey, nothing to see here!” Flynn said loudly, placing her hand on Julie’s shoulder, and everyone (thankfully) went back to minding their own business.

“Nice fall,” Flynn commented. 

“Thanks,” Julie replied, unamused. 

She turned back to the boy, who had finished collecting all her papers and now held her binder out for her to take. 

“I am so sorry about that,” he apologized again. “My name is Luke, by the way.”

“I’m Julie. This is Flynn,” she replied. 

“Hi,” Flynn said. “Why don’t you try pushing her a little harder next time?” 

Luke looked absolutely mortified for about two seconds until he realized that Flynn was joking. 

“Oh, of course,” Luke joked back. 

“Who said there was going to be a next time?” Julie returned. 

“Oop-” Flynn said, covering her mouth with her hand. 

“So, what programs are you guys here for?” Luke asked.

“Well, I’m here for garage band,” Julie said.

“Audio tech.” 

“Oh, sick! I’m here for garage band too. What do you play?” 

Julie couldn’t help but feel endeared by Luke’s excitement and energy. He reminded her a bit of a puppy. 

“The piano. And I sing too, usually backup, sometimes lead. It depends.” 

“Cool!” he enthused. “It’s my first time here. Me and my friends decided to come to camp together- I play guitar, Reg plays bass, Alex plays the drums. And we all sing a bit; I usually sing lead though. We’ve been trying to start a band back home, but we just can’t seem to find another member to fill out the sound the way we want. Anyways.”

“That’s cool. You play rock music, I assume?” Julie replied.

“Yeah, we’re all pretty big fans of 80s and 90s rock. But I don’t know, we dabble in other stuff sometimes. Reggie keeps trying to make us try out country music, and don’t tell him this, but I think I’d rather never play guitar again.” 

Julie raised her eyebrows at him. “Really. Well, I hope you don’t eat your words someday. You might hear a country song you really like, and change your mind.” 

Luke shrugged. “I guess,” he paused. “Hey, what music do you like? Like why are you here?” 

“I like everything. Usually I perform ballads though. I’m kind of excited to do some new stuff here at camp. I came here on a scholarship, so it’ll be cool to see what I learn.”

“That’s freaking awesome. Oh, and Julie? Like I said, we need a little oomph in our band, so you should consider joining us when we pair off. I mean, unless you have other plans. You seem chill,” Luke said, his eyes wide and admiring. 

Julie probably should have said no. She hardly knew Luke and hadn’t even met his other bandmates, but he was so sweetly persuasive that she couldn’t outright refuse him. 

“Maybe,” she said. “We’ll see how the chips fall.” 

“Awesome!” he said. “See you around.”

And then he was walking away, disappearing into the crowd of people behind her.

“He was nice,” Julie commented lightly. 

Flynn gave her a look and said, “Yeah, and cute.”

Julie rolled her eyes. This was going to be an interesting week.

//

“So, you’re telling me that you invited this random girl to join our band after knocking her over in the registration line?” Alex was asking incredulously as they sat in their dorm room later that evening. 

“You’re making it sound weird,” Luke humphed.

“That’s because it is weird, Luke,” Alex said.

“It could have been weirder,” Reggie pointed out. “You could have driven to Vegas and married her.”

Alex shot a perturbed look at Reggie from across the room, and Luke sighed.

“Guys, she was really nice. Plus, I didn’t ask her for no reason. She said she came here on a scholarship. Do you know how good you have to be to get one of those?” he defended. 

Reggie shrugged. “Hey, we came here to broaden our horizons. I think it sounds like a great idea.”

Alex sighed in exasperation before flopping down on his bed. “Well, don’t ask me for any sympathy if she thinks you’re weird.”

“Bro, she doesn’t. She said she’d think about it,” Luke replied. 

“Truly a charming man,” Reggie added.

“Well, what can I say? I try my best,” Luke said, ruffling Reggie’s hair.

“I’m going to get ready for bed,” Alex said now. “We have to be up at 6am tomorrow.”

“I’m gonna die,” Reggie moaned dramatically. “It’s the middle of summer.” 

“It’s worth it to be tired though, for this,” Luke replied, laying down under his blanket and adjusting his pillow. “Tomorrow’s going to be great.” 

//


	2. Monday

MONDAY  
Luke probably spoke too soon on the “tomorrow’s going to be great” thing. When the alarm bell rang at 6am, he had to physically force himself out of bed, bleary eyed and out of it, to pull Reggie out of bed so that they wouldn’t be late for breakfast. Then, they finally left the dorms and walked outside to discover that it was chilly and pouring rain. The three boys ran to the dining hall as quickly as possible, but they were all soaked by the time they got inside, and then the kitchen had run out of syrup to go with the pancakes. Luke was certifiably annoyed. By the time they made it to Thomas Hall for the session in which they would pair off into groups though, the day seemed to be turning up. The rain had ended and the sun was attempting to peek through the clouds, all three of them finally felt awake, and the promise of seeing Julie again awaited them. It was true, Luke had no idea if Julie would fit well into their band, but there was something about how kind she’d been to him even after he’d embarrassed her in front of everyone, something compassionate and joyful in her smile, and something in the way she hadn’t been afraid to banter with him a bit. He’d liked her anyway, but the fact that she’d gotten a scholarship proved his intuition. She was talented. As they all gathered outside the building, waiting for a staff member to let them in, he stood on his toes and tried his best to find a curly head of brown hair among all the other students. But, as it turned out, he didn’t need to. He’d barely begun his search when he felt a tap on his shoulder. 

“Hey Luke,” Julie said.

“Oh, hey, what’s up?” he asked, turning around. 

“Flynn threatened to dump a cup of water on me this morning if I didn’t get up, and it turns out she didn’t need to,” Julie quipped.

“Yeah, it was coming down pretty good this morning,” he replied.

“You must be Julie,” Reggie said. “Nice to meet you, I’m Reggie.”

Alex sighed loudly, and Luke knew without having to look that Reggie had attempted to wink at her. 

“I’m Alex,” Alex said, giving her an awkward wave. 

“So, this is the band,” she noted, her eyes surveying each of them. “I’m assuming you told them about your offer.” 

“Yeah,” Luke said. “Did you think about it?”

He was hoping she wouldn’t say no. He liked her.

“Yeah, we could try it out. It’s not like I came with a plan in mind, and god knows everyone else here is already friends. It’s my first time too. We might as well stick together,” she decided. 

“Awesome!” Luke exclaimed. 

He glanced over at his bandmates to find Reggie beaming at their new acquisition, and Alex looking a little nervous and annoyed, yet mostly content. Then, the doors to the hall were open, and the students were flooding in, and Luke looked to Julie beside him and felt a strange assurance that this week would be one of the best of his life. 

//  
It was around 11:30, and Julie was sitting inside a small shack with her three newly acquired bandmates. They had stood together when the faculty had begun creating groups that morning, and while they waited, the four of them had discussed what kind of music they wanted to work on. They’d settled on a sort of pop rock sound, as it would fit Julie’s smoother voice and piano skills as well as Luke’s rougher voice and the band’s rock background. Plus it was easily palatable and would fit in as something more unique alongside most of the other students, who had obviously come to play straight up rock or metal. Then, they put their names down as a group, were assigned an advisor, and were told to go out to a hut to warm up together. So here they were now, Alex fiddling with his drums, Luke messing with his amp settings, and Reggie looking for his misplaced strap. Julie, for lack of anything else to do, was sitting at her keyboard, camp assigned iPad in front of her, scrolling through the endless charts of songs. They had many options, it seemed, for the little showcase performance tomorrow night that they’d just learned about from the faculty. Julie had decided that she was a bit nervous about it, especially since they’d never played together before, but they did have two days of time fully devoted to practice, so it shouldn’t be too bad. There was also the matter of a band name, which they had to have picked by tonight. 

“So boys. We should probably warm up and get some ideas flowing,” she suggested. 

“Yeah, should we do vocals first? I’ve been kind of excited to actually hear your voice,” Luke replied, strapping his guitar onto his body. 

“Wow, way to take the pressure off,” Julie said sarcastically. “But yeah, I’ll play some scales, we can start with a lip buzz and then do some arpeggios or something.” 

The three boys gathered around the keyboard as they began their warmups, starting with the trills which always made Julie’s head feel like it was vibrating. Then, they began to actually sing, and wow. Their voices were a perfect fit together. Reggie had a very warm, raspy sort of voice, whereas Alex had an even, theatrical tone. And Luke, well. His voice seemed to match hers most of all. It was powerful and melodic and had just the right amount of grit in it. As the tones mixed together and floated around the room, they all collectively seemed to realize that this partnership had been a great decision. 

“Oh my god,” Luke said after they finished their first arpeggio. “This… this works so well! And Julie, you are so frickin talented. Like, I knew you would be, but wow!” 

“Yeah, you have the voice of an angel,” Reggie added.

Julie felt heat rise into her cheeks. “Thanks guys. You all sound awesome too, there’s no need to hype me up,” she laughed. 

They continued to sing, and then Alex suggested they try harmonizing together, and something even stronger seemed to click. Julie hadn’t felt this much joy singing with people other than her mom since when she and Carrie used to be friends, before they’d gotten to high school and Carrie had become the exact type of fake popular girl they’d both said they wouldn’t ever be in middle school. Some days Julie really missed those times, especially since Flynn wasn’t much of a singer, and she didn’t really have many other musically inclined friends. But this- this is why she’d come to camp: to find some talented musicians to truly click with and learn from. And it was happening. They continued to mess around with harmonies even as they all made their way back to their instruments, and Luke started them in on a typical I-V-vi-IV progression. It came easy, playing with them. Julie let her fingers dance across the keys in simple blocks and patterns, and gave into the music and the happiness that she saw in Luke’s eyes as he walked nearer to her, guitar in hand. Alex and Reggie kept a steady rhythm in the background, and Julie played chords, trying out new inversions as Luke improvised a solo melody line. She needn’t have worried that this would be a good decision. The room was electric. 

//  
Luke was honestly astonished with how well his impulsive choice was working out. He knew Julie would be good, but she fit into their band’s musicality like a glove. It was lunch break now, and the kids from different programs- concert band, musical theatre, dance, and audio tech- were all gathered in front of the dining hall, waiting to be let in. Julie had gone off to retrieve Flynn, so for the moment it was just him, Alex, and Reggie standing in line behind a group of obnoxiously loud middle school theater kids. 

“C’mon Alex, you gotta admit, that was an amazing practice this morning,” Luke decided to say as means of conversation. “Sometimes my weird ideas are perfect.” 

“It was such a good practice,” Alex agreed. “Julie has such a big voice, it’s insane. But... it was still creepy to ask her the way you did.” 

Alex’s eyes were light, and Luke knew it was all in jest. 

“Any ideas for a song for the showcase?” Luke wondered now. “I really think Julie should sing the lead. She’s far better than me, and it just makes more sense anyway because then we three can blend as backup harmony.” 

Reggie looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, there’s plenty of fun, well known pop rock hits from the last 30 years. Isn’t that the goal of the showcase anyway? Something everyone can sing along to?” 

“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “We’ll have to think about it I guess.” 

They continued their conversation, moving on to discussing the rest of their summer plans. Luke’s family were planning on taking a vacation to the mountains in Washington, and had invited Alex to come along. Reggie, unfortunately, couldn’t go, as he was taking time off from work as it was to go to camp. It would be a little sad to vacation without him, but Luke was sure he and Alex would have a great time anyway. Then, Reggie started talking video games, and Alex began enthusing about a new one that he had purchased recently, and Luke started zoning out again, racking his brain for a song idea they would all be happy with. The line started moving again, and Luke wondered if Julie had found Flynn yet, but it turns out he didn’t need to, because just then he spotted Flynn’s bright pink hat in the crowd. He stuck his hand up to wave them over. 

“... she’s just never going to be civil, Julie, no matter what you do. And Nick doesn’t have the guts to tell her off, even though he clearly wants to. God, she’s such a bitch,” Luke could hear Flynn say as they approached. 

“She really is,” Julie agreed. “I wish he’d grow just a bit of a spine. I mean, why is he even dating her? She’s not even nice to him, let alone other people.” 

“He’s just one of those people who sees the good in everyone, I think.”

“Yeah, I can’t really talk, though. I wish I had the guts to be like, ‘Hey Nick, your girlfriend is extremely mean to you and everyone else around her, aren’t I the better option?’, but…” Julie trailed off.

“Yeah, like, just pull an Avril Lavigne- ‘hey hey, you you, I don’t like your girlfriend’,” Flynn sang, laughing.

And there it was! After all that thinking and going through a catalog of songs in his head, all it took to find a plausible option was a one-off song lyric. 

“Oh my god, that’s perfect,” Luke muttered to himself. “Hey girls!”

“Hey!” Julie replied, stepping next to him in line. “Here’s Flynn.”

“Hey boys,” she said. “Reggie, Alex.”

Flynn nodded to each of them, and then made a theatrical point of faux whispering in Julie’s ear about how attractive they all were. Julie rolled her eyes in a loving annoyance, which reminded him quite a bit of Alex, and then Luke remembered the suggestion he wanted to make. 

“Oh, guys!” he said, getting their attention. “The song for the showcase… I’m thinking that something by Avril Lavigne could work really well. She’s pop rock, the songs are in a female key, we could do some badass backup vocals, and Julie would totally kill it… what do you think?”

Reggie raised his eyebrows thoughtfully, and Alex looked rather indifferent about it. He could see Julie mulling it over in her head, too.

“Actually, that would probably work,” Julie said slowly. “Definitely one of her older songs though.”

“No, yeah, totally, uhh… sk8er boi? No, too rock… oh! Complicated,” he said. 

“Yeah!” she agreed. 

“Cuz like, that beginning part is slower, right, like you could start off with just the piano, right,” 

“It could be all soft and pretty, like the first verse maybe?” Julie suggested. 

“Yeah, then I could come in with a fill right before the chorus,” said Alex.

“Then Luke and I come in with guitar and bass,” Reggie added.

“Then I could get off the piano, and you guys could keep playing, and I could walk center stage…” Julie continued. 

“Dude, this is all sounding perfect,” Luke said. 

“Luke, what if you sang the second verse? I sing the first, we harmonize on the choruses? Then Reggie and Alex could come in on the last chorus,” Julie said. 

“I think it sounds great,” he replied. 

“Well, looks like you got yourself a showcase song,” Flynn said, an impressed look on her face. “You didn’t even have to fight about it.” 

“That’s because it’s exactly the right song, Flynn,” Julie chastised jokingly. 

“We still need to think of a band name,” Alex said as the lunch line finally moved into the building. 

“We’ll think of something!” Julie half-shouted over the din.

Luke was sure it would be no problem at this rate. 

//

Later that afternoon, Julie and the boys were all sat back in their hut, the music for Complicated in hand, notebooks in front of them. They had worked out the vocal harmonies and were now trying to figure out Julie’s piano part in the beginning of the song. Specifically, how it would transition into the full band. 

“So I play that last C chord, then Alex comes in, hits the cymbals, and then you two hit the D minor chord. I think that should work perfect. We’ll just have to run it a few times.” 

“Yeah, I’m honestly feeling really good about it,” Luke added. “Because it’ll be the focus on you, right? Everyone will be wondering what’s going on with the soft beginning, and then we’ll just like, poof in, like we weren’t even there before, and the whole mood will change.” 

“Yeah, like we’re ghosts and we’ve just shown up for a haunting,” Reggie said, smirking. 

“You sound way too excited about being a ghost,” Alex remarked. 

“Fine, phantom then,” Reggie amended.

“That didn’t really make it better,” Alex said.

“Really? I like the word phantom. It has a nice ring to it,” Reggie said. 

Luke smiled. “Yeah? Well, we’re your phantoms, Julie. We pop in, give you some spice, eh?” 

“Julie and the Phantoms,” she said. “Now that has a nice ring to it. What do you think, boys? Does that solve our band name problem?” 

“Whoa, dude. That’s sick,” Reggie said.

“That’s totally sick,” Luke agreed. “Alex?” 

“Yeah, that’s cool,” he said, a smile on his face. 

“Should I go tell Ms. Harrison that we have a band name?” Julie asked excitedly.

The boys didn’t even need to answer.

//

“So… Julie and the Phantoms. I like it,” Flynn commented as they lay on their beds that night. “Gives you the spotlight you deserve.”

Julie nodded. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about the way Luke fawned over her. It was very sweet and endearing, and it was starting to mean more as she realized what a good performer he was, and what a good person he seemed to be. Yet, that was just the problem. Luke deserved just as much credit as her, and so did Reggie and Alex. It was the four of them, equally, who made their little project what it was. Julie hoped their performance would convey that. 

“I’m glad Luke bumped into me in the registration line,” she admitted. “I really think he’s going to be a good friend. Alex and Reggie too. We haven’t had a ton of chances to really talk yet, about our lives and stuff, but I’m hoping maybe tomorrow we can get to know each other better.” 

“I’m happy for you, Jules. You all seem to have great musical chemistry.” 

“That’s just the thing. You wouldn’t expect it, right? I mean, it’s totally random. But it works. The ideas just kinda flow,” she agreed. “Anyways, how’s audio tech? Are you having fun?” 

“Oh, yeah, loads of it. DJing the school dance this year is going to be a breeze,” Flynn laughed. “It would’ve been fun to have done the same program, though.” 

“Yeah, it would’ve. There’s always next year, if you wanna pick up a trumpet. We could form a ska band,” Julie teased. 

Flynn gave her a look which decidedly said there would be no trumpets in her future, and said, “That is the last thing you’d want to see me do, believe me.” 

Julie laughed. “I love you, Flynn. Goodnight.” 

“Goodnight, Jules.” 

And the lights went out on their first full day at camp. 

//


	3. Tuesday

TUESDAY  
Julie was beginning to feel like she was floating on air. Sure, she was never going to get used to waking up at 6am in the middle of July, sure, Carrie had dissed her in the breakfast line that morning, and sure, Nick hadn’t done a single thing about it, but, all of that was beginning to feel insignificant. It mostly had to do with the success of band rehearsals, and the way she felt when she left the grounded station of the piano and let herself walk about the stage, flying free. On their last run through, she’d walked over to Luke, and he’d fixed her with a look of pure joy and passion, and he’d left his mic to join hers. And for some reason, she’d gotten those little fluttery things in her stomach. The moment of it all was so quick, but it was like a high, and Julie wanted to chase it again. They’d made it through morning rehearsals and lectures, and she’d gone to a private piano lesson where she’d been chided for her finger structure and applauded for her sight reading, and now the four of them were sitting on the lawn after lunch, drinking sodas from the concessions and watching the concert band kids play volleyball. 

“So…” Julie began. She wanted to know more about her bandmates. “We haven’t really gotten a chance to get to know one another super well.”

“I guess not,” Alex agreed. “I mean, I’ve known these two dorks since elementary, but you,” 

“Yeah,” Julie agreed. “I want to get to know you guys. Like, what’s life like back home? What do you do besides music?”

“Well, we all grew up in the same neighborhood,” Luke said. “Meadowvale Circle. I don’t know, I used to go over to Reggie’s house when we were like, five, and we’d play Legos together and watch movies. Then Alex’s family moved there in first grade, and he didn’t really have any friends, so we just all started hanging out. Then, I took a guitar class in middle school and my teacher got me really into rock music, so then I got them into it, and that’s how we have a band. Kind of. It’s a half band. We still need another guitarist, at least back home.”

“That’s so cool. That’s kinda like me and Flynn, too. She grew up in the house across from me, so we’ve always been two peas in a pod.” 

“Childhood bonds, man. Stronger than steel,” Reggie commented. 

“Not always,” Julie replied. “I used to be friends with Carrie, before she went all Sharpay Evans on me.” 

“Carrie’s the one with the posse in the dance program, right? She seems kinda stuck up,” Alex said. 

“Yeah, she wasn’t always like that, though. My mom is really good friends with her dad, Bobby Wilson. You know, the guitar instructor.” 

“Bobby is Carrie’s dad?” and “Your mom knows the guitar instructor?” said Luke and Reggie at the same time. 

“Yes and yes,” Julie said. “We were best friends as kids, and then we hit a certain point in eighth grade where suddenly Carrie always had to be the best. Her mom left the year before, so I kinda get why it all happened, but. I don’t know. It still sucks.” 

“It’s alright,” Alex comforted. “People change, and sometimes you can’t really do much about it.” 

“Yeah, it’s life I suppose,” she agreed. “But enough about that. I wanna hear all about your hobbies, ooo, and your love lives.” 

She tried waggling her eyebrows at them, but it didn’t really work how she wanted it to. Oh well. 

“Well, Alex here is the only one with someone to his name,” Luke said. 

“Yeah, I have a boyfriend, Willie. We’ve been together since last fall,” Alex said shyly. 

“Yes, and you’re disgustingly in love with each other,” Luke added, ruffling Alex’s hair. 

“Luke,” Alex groaned. “Ignore him,” he said to Julie. “I met Willie when I took my younger sister to the skate park and recognized him from my history class, and I don’t know. He was cute and we hit it off and it’s been good ever since.” 

“That’s really sweet,” Julie said. “I’m happy for you.” 

Alex smiled. “Thanks.” 

“Reggie and I are single Pringles though. Although, hopefully not for long,” Luke said. “If Reggie’s co-worker he’s been flirting with for the last few weeks realizes she’s missed him when he gets back.” 

“Not likely,” Reggie said. “I’m pretty sure she thinks it’s all a joke.” 

“That’s because everything you say is a joke,” Alex quipped.

“What about you? Anyone back home?” Luke asked. 

“Nah, just me. I mean, if I had it my way, Carrie’s boyfriend Nick would be dating me instead of her, but that’s more of an unobtainable fantasy than a real crush,” Julie said. 

“Hey, you never know,” Reggie said, shrugging his shoulders. 

“I guess,” she agreed. “Best not to get my hopes up though. She’s got him pretty tight around her finger, even if she is Cruella DeVil.”

The conversation turned from their love lives after that. Julie found herself talking about her mom’s career in the industry as a ghostwriter and underground performing artist, and then Alex told some stories about his first date with Willie and what a nervous, awkward mess he’d been. They started talking about pets, and Reggie enthused about his dog while Julie told tales about the late family cat. Finally, Luke started talking about video games, a subject Julie was certifiably ignorant in, and she tried to listen intently as the three boys got passionate about their favorite gaming systems, but she found it a little hard to keep up with. It was no matter, however. Julie was starting to feel like they were true friends, closer than any of her passive friends back home. She supposed that was part of the magic of summer camp, being in close quarters where they weren’t allowed their phones, but at the same time, there was a genuine spark between all of them. She understood now that Alex had quite a bit of anxiety and a great sense of humor, and that Reggie really loved to make his friends happy, and that Luke was loud and passionate about pretty much everything he cared for. And she could tell that they liked her too. It was refreshing to be listened to, for once. 

//

As the afternoon ticked on, Luke could feel the adrenaline building in his veins. The showcase was that night, and the whole camp would be packing into Thomas Hall to see the different bands perform. They were second to last on the setlist for the evening, which gave them plenty of time to stand in the crowd and overthink while screaming along to My Chemical Romance songs. As far as he was concerned, it was going to go great. They’d beaten the song into the ground with how much they’d practiced it- the delicate beginning, the crashing in of the band, the harmonies and building and energy of it all. Plus, it was simply a fun song. Everyone would know it, and they’d arranged a fresh new take on it. Even Ms. Harrison had seemed proud. He and Reggie had brought their instruments to Thomas Hall, and were simply waiting for Alex and Julie to show up. The door opened, and a few seniors walked in, all studs and shaved sides and hair dye, punk kids. Luke personally thought they looked extremely cool, even if it was a bit intimidating. It seemed like they were waiting forever, especially as more of the garage band kids flooded in, but finally their other two bandmates arrived. 

“Oh my god, I feel like I walked through half of camp,” Julie gasped, out of breath. “I had to run back to my dorm because I forgot my notebook, but then it was locked, so I had to get a counselor to open it, and it all took way longer than planned. Sorry guys.” 

Alex nodded beside her, fishing for a water bottle in his fanny pack. 

“It’s fine, you’re not late or anything,” Luke reassured. “Are we ready to rock tonight?”

“Hell yeah,” Reggie said. 

“I’m always ready,” Alex agreed.

“Ditto,” Julie said. 

“Awesome. Let’s get a spot at the front.” 

They walked to the second row near the boards, and eventually Flynn showed up, resting her head on Julie’s shoulder, clearly exhausted. Luke kind of wanted to do the same, if he were honest. He was tired. Then, the first band walked on stage. They called themselves Bird of Prey and set right into a heavily censored version of Killing the Name Of by Rage Against the Machine, getting all the kids in the crowd to scream “Heck you, I won’t do what you tell me!”. Luke found it a bit ironic. Then, there were renditions of Pink Floyd, Joan Jett, Ed Sheeran, Nirvana, and others. Finally, the tall, blonde, attractive guitarist in the band before them walked up to the mic and announced that they’d be playing Teenagers by MCR, and she started into the opening notes on her guitar, accentuated by the cheers of the campers. Luke grabbed Alex’s shoulders and they screamed the lyrics together, jumping up and down until halfway through the song, when Julie raised her eyebrow at them in the suggestion that they should prepare. It was showtime. They stepped behind the makeshift stage, and Luke strapped his guitar to his body, tuning it quickly and quietly. He felt the strings beneath his fingers, notched and flexible, the pick in his hand, light and useful, and turned to see Julie, red-faced and brilliant. He couldn’t help but smile at her, and she smiled back nervously. Something in his throat seemed to get a little drier just then. Finally, the band before them was done, and they were being called onto stage. 

“Now I would like to present Julie and the Phantoms,” Bobby Wilson announced, his arm sweeping to welcome them onto stage. Luke took his place in the back parallel to Reggie, Alex got behind his drums and Julie sat at her keyboard. 

“Hey guys,” she said. “Who wants to hear a little Avril Lavigne?” 

Whoops resounded through the audience, and then Julie’s fingers were slinking across the keys in delicate patterns, and she was singing, and it was like heaven. Luke found himself entranced, maybe even more so than he was when they practiced. It seemed to mean something deeper now that they’d talked for awhile, now that he knew her. He’d noticed before that she was pretty, how could one not, but now with the lights shining on her, melodies floating from her mouth, music in the air, an audience below them, he found her beautiful. Julie sang the pre-chorus nearly effortlessly, and suddenly she was hitting that last C chord. He looked back at Alex for the cue, and they were on. Even as they sang “Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?”, Luke decided that this was the easiest thing in the world. He never wanted to stop performing with Julie, even if it meant driving halfway across the world. Then, they kicked into the second verse, and he took his place at the mic, singing about fake friends and preppy clothes. The crowd below him was magnetic, and he fed into their energy and the way they screamed the lyrics back to the stage. Luke turned his attention to his right to find Julie again, waiting for the lull in the bridge. If he’d thought the crowd had a pull, Julie was like neodymium. He had to get closer to her. 

“Chill out, whatcha yelling for?” she sang, and he stepped toward her, searching for her mic and her eyes. 

“Lay back, it’s all been done before,” he replied, having reached her, their faces inches apart.

“If you could only let it be, you would see…” 

Something clicked just then in their eye contact, and the tension thickened, only to be broken again as the song resumed its normal pace. Eventually, Luke migrated back to his original place on the stage, and they finished the song, Alex crashing the cymbals. 

“Thank you!” Julie yelled into the crowd, and they took a bow. 

As Luke stepped off the stage, it suddenly dawned on him what that whole mic sharing stunt had really been the product of. He was attracted to Julie Molina. 

//


	4. Wednesday

WEDNESDAY  
Julie awoke on Wednesday morning inexplicably energized. Maybe it had something to do with the killer showcase performance the night before, or the way making music with them all, Luke especially, felt as simple as breathing itself, but whatever the case, she was in a good mood. Flynn noticed it too, making some quip about how she should submit her job application to become a songbird. Julie had just rolled her eyes and slugged Flynn in the shoulder. Upon eating a fabulous breakfast and drinking an entire bottle of water, she met up with the boys outside the dining hall and walked with them to their hut, where they would have to choose a second song for their final performance on Saturday. Unfortunately, choosing another song was not going as smoothly as it had gone the first time. There didn’t seem to be many other obvious choices, although Julie was sure they existed. It was all becoming rather frustrating until she pulled out a notebook to write down some ideas and Luke asked,

“Wait, Julie, do you write music?” 

The answer was yes, of course, but she hadn’t decided if she wanted Luke to know that yet. Songwriting was kind of personal for her. 

“Well…” she said instead. 

“You do, don’t you?” he enthused. 

“Yes,” she admitted. “But if you’re about to suggest that we play a song I wrote for the performance, you’ve got another thing coming.” 

“I wasn’t going to say that,” Luke said. “I write too, y’know? Been writing since middle school. What I was going to suggest was that we wrote a song together, all four of us. You and I could pound out the lyrics, Alex here could write some killer rhythms, Reggie could do a nice little descending bass line, whatever. Plus, think about how impressive that would be to the faculty!”

Damn, he was good at being persuasive. It was a risky move for sure, something that they couldn’t take back once they started it, and if the song didn’t turn out well, it would be a failure. Yet at the same time, this was camp. It was a time to try new things. Besides, Julie had been finding that once Luke turned those puppy dog eyes on her, she had a hard time saying no. 

“I suppose…” she said slowly. “But we need a thematic idea first. Like, what do we want to say?” 

Luke shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.”

“We’ve all worked pretty hard to get here,” Alex said. “We might as well make the most of it. I bet we could even get some advice on our writing.” 

“I’m in,” Reggie commented. “Let’s write a song.” 

“We have fundamentals in ten minutes,” Luke said now, looking at the clock on the wall. “We can start writing it after lunch.” 

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Julie agreed. 

Luke grinned at her, eyes bright. Something about his assurance made her more excited than she maybe should have been to write with him. 

//

They were sitting underneath the awning by the concession stand after lunch when the teasing began. Luke should have expected as much from his two best friends, especially since he gave Alex crap all the time. Julie and Flynn had left to go back to their dorms, which gave Alex a perfect in to say, “So, Julie, huh?”

“What about her?” he replied, trying to play it off. 

“Are we going to ignore the fact that you two sang while staring into each other’s eyes last night?” Reggie asked. 

“Yeah, it was like sparks were going off or something,” Alex added. “And you are not a good enough actor to pull that off.” 

Well, Luke was trapped. 

“Guys, it was just a stage thing, yeah? I mean, c’mon, Reggie and I share a mic all the time.” 

“Not like that we don’t,” Reggie remarked. “I mean, we could always spice it up next time, add some sexual tension.”

“In your dreams, Reginald,” Luke scoffed. 

“Dear god,” Alex muttered. “Plus it wasn’t just the performance,” he pointed out now. “You keep looking at her with, like, big doe eyes, man. And you keep roping her into doing things with you.”

“Hey, it’s kinda cute,” Reggie said, booping Luke’s nose. “Julie’s great.”

“Okay, okay, fine. I like her,” Luke admitted. “But it’s not a big deal, alright? I just met her, and besides, everyone gets a little camp crush every now and again.” 

“Whatever you say, pal,” Alex shrugged. “Just know that I will be recounting this conversation at your wedding reception in ten years.” 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Luke grumbled, deciding to tackle Alex across the seat of the picnic bench. 

Alex fought back, a laugh on his lips, and Reggie shook his head, smiling. Luke was lucky to have them for friends. 

//

Julie and the boys were sitting on the lawn on their afternoon break, chatting. They’d come up with some interesting musical ideas in their afternoon session so far, and even floated a few thoughts for lyrics, but nothing had materialized into a full fledged song yet. She was starting to get slightly frustrated with their lack of cohesive progress, even if she had written a pretty cool piano part that would fit a power ballad quite well. Of course, Luke didn’t seem to have a care in the world, as he kept saying the inspiration would come to them, and the fool that she was becoming believed him. So, instead of stressing, they sat in the grass, Alex pulling at the blades and twisting them into knots, talking about their lives. The fact that the week was half over was starting to hit Julie, especially since she’d found out that they lived two hours away from her by car. She was going to miss them a lot. 

“You know what I think is so cool about this band,” Luke was saying wistfully. “Is that we all love music like it’s our lifeblood. I’ve been watching some of the other kids, you know, and they care for sure, but they don’t act like they need music to stay alive, and I just think it’s really cool that we get to perform together.” 

“I got that from my mom, you know?” Julie said. “She always says that music is a language anyone can understand and the deepest way you can feel things. That’s why she made it her career, because she wanted to impart it to others. It took me awhile to get that level of confidence like her, to be able to sing in front of people. But now it’s like I’m flying when I’m on stage.” 

“Dude, I totally know what you mean,” Reggie exclaimed. “Music helped me be more confident, too. I wasn’t always the best in school as a kid, and I was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, which my parents took as like, this really big deal. Like, instead of helping me adapt because my brain functions differently, they treated me like I wasn’t able to learn anything and would never be as good as my peers. And after you get told that you’re stupid for awhile, you kinda start to believe it. But then I got into music, and I started playing bass, and I actually felt like I was good at something for once. It really helped me be more sure of myself.”

Julie could tell that this wasn’t a new topic of conversation for the boys by the way Luke’s eyes flashed in anger and the way Alex’s lips flattened. 

“Your parents definitely didn’t deal with that well at all,” she agreed. “That sucks. I’m sorry. And music has a way of doing that, doesn’t it?” 

“They didn’t, no. They still act surprised when I get good grades, but they also fight with each other a lot, so nothing they do makes sense I guess. But music has been my rock in a lot of ways. And it’s given me you guys, my wonderful friends.”

Reggie smiled just then, innocent and happy, and Julie felt an immense sense of gratitude for whatever had brought them together. 

“We love you, Reg,” Luke said.

“Yeah,” Julie and Alex agreed at the same time. 

It was silent for a few moments, and then Alex spoke. 

“You know, it’s gotten me thinking… we really can do anything we set our minds to. Because like, I was terrified to come out to my parents, right? They’ve always been more ‘traditional’, if you will. And I’d kind of realized by the time I was about eleven that I liked guys, and I didn’t really know how I was going to explain all of that to them. I had so much anxiety over it for such a long time. But when it finally came down to it, when I met Willie and I knew I wanted to date him, and I knew I wanted to be out, I just sat them down on the couch and told them I was gay. Like, it was as easy as that and I’d been stressed about it for years. And at first they were confused and weren’t really sure what that meant for me, but they told me they loved me and gave me a hug, and suddenly that weight just like, lifted off my chest, and it was like I was finally free.” 

“Finally free…” Julie mused. “Guys, wait, this could totally be our song! Be confident, be who you are, care about things, don’t be afraid…”

Luke turned to her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking them in excitement. “Oh my god, yes! Julie, you’re a genius. Where’s my notebook?” 

Luke’s excitement was exhilarating, and it made her heart skip a beat. Something seemed to ignite within her, a passion deeper than anything she’d experienced before. She kept reacting that way around him, and it was starting to get annoying how much she thought about him, even when they weren’t together. She didn’t have time at the moment to get into all of that though, and if Julie saw the way Alex was firing knowing looks at Luke, she didn’t mention it. Instead, she fished for a pen in her bag, stared into Luke’s eyes with some kind of friendly challenge, and wrote the words “hearts on fire” on the page. It was all coming together. 

//

“Today was a great day,” Reggie mused as they lay on their bunks.

“It really was. That song we wrote is awesome. I can’t wait to finish it tomorrow,” Luke said. 

Alex simply yawned in agreement and shut the light off. 

“Goodnight guys,” he mumbled. 

Luke lay staring at the ceiling for about five minutes, wondering why he couldn’t fall asleep. He was completely exhausted from their busy schedule and the early mornings, but his brain just couldn’t seem to shut off. The same scene kept playing in his mind, over and over again. It was from earlier that day, sitting in the hut, hunched over a coffee table with Julie and his guitar. Alex had gone with Reggie to the bathroom, so it had just been them, alone. They were working on the chorus, talking about passion, and the love for music, and love in general, and how it was like a fire, and how it could make you free. And Julie had turned to him with an indistinguishable glint in her eyes, and said “you’re a part of me, hands up if you’re with me”, and Luke somehow felt like she was saying that to him. Had they become a part of one another through how they connected on stage and in rehearsals? And had she meant something deeper by it? He didn’t know, he couldn’t know, but he desperately wished to. And the fact of the matter was, he realized, no one starts losing sleep over a passing infatuation. No, Luke Patterson was completely and thoroughly whipped, wasn’t he? He didn’t just like her in passing, he really liked her, and it was getting harder to swallow the fact that they would be going home in a couple of days, that she would be hours away from him. His heart began to ache at the prospect, and he flipped over on his side, attempting to banish the thoughts of romance and welcome the peace of sleep. If only it would come. 

//


	5. Thursday

THURSDAY   
The experience of writing a song with Luke the day before had been more fulfilling than Julie even thought to dream of. He had an interesting way with words. He wasn’t poetic, and he didn’t have any tortured artist elitism, but instead he lived for the catch of the hook and the celebration of life through simple lyrics. That perspective fit very well with Julie’s. She hated all that pretentious angst most songwriters had. At the end of the day, she and Luke were just two kids in awe of the world, and it worked. Finally Free was going to be a great song, they just had to finish it. The prospect of another full day with Luke and the boys was in order, and as she stood in the breakfast line, listening to the musical theater kids sing Cell Block Tango, she found herself humming along. The boys stood in front of her, laughing about some inside joke she wasn’t even going to try to understand. Then, the moment broke, as the girl in front of Luke had tapped him on the shoulder. 

“Hey, you’re the guy who sang Complicated the other night,” she said, smiling. 

“Oh yeah!” he replied.

“You’re so amazing! The way you played that guitar, it was like you were born with it,” she gushed. “I’m Cassie. In the theater program.” 

“My name’s Luke,” he said. 

Julie watched them talk. She noticed how every time Luke said something mildly funny, Cassie would giggle and blush and tuck her annoyingly perfect hair behind her ear, and Luke would grin bashfully and entertain her fancies, smooth talking and charismatic. Something unpleasant curled in Julie’s gut, a weird kind of envy and possessiveness she’d only ever felt when Carrie ran her manicured nails through Nick’s hair. She had no good reason to be upset with Cassie, Luke was clearly attractive and kind and flirtatious and witty and single, there was nothing wrong with checking him out. But therein lay the problem: Julie wanted to be able to walk up, lay a hand on Luke’s arm and say to Cassie, “Hi, I’m Luke’s girlfriend, Julie”, and wipe that cute little smile off her face. Julie was beginning to find this little crush that had been building up over the last couple of days hard to ignore, and it was becoming bothersome. She hadn’t asked for Luke and his bad hair and his puppy dog eyes and his devotion to music, especially since they’d be going home soon, but what could she do? It was freaking her out a little, how quickly she had begun to like Luke, and maybe part of it was the atmosphere of summer camp, but she suspected most of it was the fact that she’d never met anyone she clicked so well with before. So, she attempted to swallow the jealous feeling in her throat, calmed the anxiety that was brewing in her chest, and resolved to not let this whole thing get the best of her. Cassie was turning away from Luke now, chattering to her friends about something, and Julie felt herself relax, but then Luke made eye contact with her, and the butterflies were back in full force. Dear god. 

Over mid-morning break, Julie decided she had to tell Flynn about what was going on with Luke. She simply couldn’t hold it in any longer, especially after their practice during which Julie was sure she’d made heart eyes at him the whole time. So much for subtlety. They were sitting on the picnic table outside their dorm, eating chips, the boys nowhere in sight. It was the perfect time. 

“So, Luke and I have been spending quite a bit of  
time writing,” Julie began. 

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Flynn replied, deadpan. “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Luke in general.” 

Julie looked over at her friend, her eyebrows raised and her expression unimpressed. Of course Flynn had figured the whole thing out already. 

“And what about it?” Julie said sweetly. 

“Girl, you have a crush on that disaster boy the size of that auditorium over there, don’t you?” Flynn said. 

“Flynn, it’s not that big of a deal,” she tried to say. 

“Really?” Flynn asked, incredulous. “I was there when you performed at the showcase and shared a microphone. You could cut the tension with a knife. And you haven’t shut up about him since we got here. Forget a crush, you’ve been stomped on.” 

Julie couldn’t help but chuckle nervously. “Okay, maybe I like him, a lot. But we’re leaving in a couple days anyway, and he lives a good distance from us. Besides, he’s like. Suave and conventionally attractive. Did you notice the way he flirted with that girl in the breakfast line today? He’s so far out of my league.” 

“First of all, he was not flirting with her, he was just being nice. She was flirting with him. There’s a big difference. Second of all, have you seen the way he looks at you? I don’t think it’s one sided. And you’re gorgeous, Julie. Don’t act like you’re not.” 

Julie sighed. “I know. It's just… feelings are complicated.”

Flynn grabbed Julie’s hand and held onto it in reassurance. “Which is why you need to think about this logically. Your ‘little’ crush on Luke isn’t going away anytime soon, but neither is the fact that he lives two hours away. You’ll figure something out, Julie. You always do. Just go have fun with him. It’s not worth stressing about what all your feelings mean when you only have so much time here. Just go have fun.” 

“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, Flynn,” Julie said. 

Julie let her head fall onto her best friend’s shoulder, and they sat like that for a little bit, until the bell rang, signaling the end of break. It was back to the writing room. 

//

Luke wasn’t very good at sitting still. It had been something his parents chided him for endlessly when he was younger, but it was coming in rather handy now as the band ran through what he hoped would be the final cut of their song. They had all technically written it, Alex pitching in on the drums and Reggie helping with the voice leading in the progressions, but in so many ways it felt like his and Julie’s song. Right now, he was jumping up and down to the beat as Julie sang “Hands up if you believe”. It was overwhelming, the connection between them when they played, the way her eyes sparkled and the way she carried herself. It was always a game of getting nearer to her, seeing how close they could get before the moment inevitably ended. The song drew to a close, the last chorus pounding away, and as she jingled a tambourine, Julie began to riff and improvise along the fading sound of the guitar, her voice light and sweet. There was so much beauty in it, in her, that Luke found his heart leaping a bit. 

“Oh my god Julie, you have to keep that in for the performance!” he exclaimed, rushing towards her. 

“Was it good?” she wondered. “I didn’t know if it would fit- oof!” 

Luke cut her off by catching her in a crushing hug, unable to contain his pure happiness anymore. 

“It was so good. You’re going to dazzle everyone,” he said with sincerity. 

The hug was quickly becoming too long to be friendly anymore, so Luke tried to commit to memory the feeling of Julie’s hair in his hands, how her frame fit against his, and broke away. She was beaming at him, cheeks flushed and eyes full of pure admiration, and Luke began to wonder, he began to hope, that maybe her feelings were a little deeper, too. The moment was over as quickly as it had begun, as Alex lay his hand over Luke’s shoulder, and Reggie pulled them in for a much more platonic group hug. 

“Saturday’s going to be great,” Reggie proclaimed. Luke couldn’t help but agree. 

//

Evening had come to camp, the sun bright in the west, and Julie found herself rifling through the suitcase she had brought in search of something nice. Thursday night was faculty night, in which all the students gathered in the auditorium to see their world class professional faculty perform in their signature fields. There would be cabaret songs, piano etudes, rock bands, and original compositions. Julie couldn’t wait. However, the one requirement of faculty night was that the students had to come in semiformal attire, and Julie knew she had a dress packed somewhere, even if it was lost to her at the moment. Flynn had already gotten ready, wearing a hot pink blouse and nice slacks, and she was currently staring into the mirror in their dorm, trying to apply eyeliner. 

“Ugh, where is that stupid thing?” Julie grumbled. 

“You mean the dress you brought? Didn’t you hang it up in the wardrobe in the commons?” Flynn replied. 

“Oh my god, I did. You’re a lifesaver,” Julie said, rushing out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, she had zipped herself into her sky blue dress and was walking down the path towards the auditorium with Flynn. 

“The boys said they’d meet us by the tree,” Julie said. 

“I don’t see them,” Flynn replied. “Oh, there they are.” 

There they were indeed. And wow, they cleaned up nice. Alex was wearing a simplistic pink shirt and white pants, whereas Reggie had fitted himself in a maroon sport coat and nice black jeans. However, in Julie’s humble opinion, Luke looked nicest of all, with a light blue button down and grey slacks. Then, she looked from her dress and silver jewelry back to Luke’s clothes, and realized that possibly the most ironic coincidence had taken place. They had shown up in matching outfits and hadn’t even planned it. What was the world trying to tell her?

“Well, you boys look absolutely strapping!” Flynn called out to them. “You’re going to be in high demand, looking like that.” 

Alex laughed. “I’m already in high demand, sweetie.” 

“Oh right, skater boyfriend. Well, he’s a lucky man,” Flynn said. 

Julie laughed. 

“Should we get in line for seats, now that we’re all here?” she said. 

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Reggie replied. 

Call her infatuated all you want, but Julie was going to engineer this line situation so that she could sit next to Luke. She walked up next to him, motioning for him to go in front of her to the line, and as soon as they were situated in the order she’d wanted them all in, she said, “Great minds think alike, huh?” 

Luke looked confused. “What?” 

“The color coordination.” 

“Oh, yeah! Right. I guess it is kinda ironic. Like, the shade of blue matches exactly,” he stumbled. 

“I think it’s cute,” Reggie piped up from behind them. 

Luke and Julie both turned to glare at him. 

“You do look really nice,” Luke said softly, after a pause. 

“Thanks,” Julie said, just as quietly. “You do, too.” 

His eyes went all sappy again, and Julie remembered what Flynn had said earlier about Luke reciprocating her feelings. Maybe she hadn’t been so wrong after all. But this was no matter, for the line was moving and they were all filing into the auditorium to take their seats. They’d gotten good ones too, about seven rows back from the stage, where they could watch the professionals perform their music, all eloquence and grandeur and protocol. They all tried to remember not to clap between movements, and there were many times throughout the recital that Julie looked over at Luke and saw him in complete awe of the music before them. It warmed her soul, how much he loved it, and she wished she could reach across and intertwine their fingers together, but it didn’t seem right for the moment. As the performance ended, Luke placed his hand on Julie’s shoulder to guide her out of the seats, blue against blue, and she couldn’t help but think that the whole evening had felt like a date. 

//


	6. Friday

FRIDAY  
If Luke hadn’t been sure of his crush on Julie before, last night had easily confirmed it. He’d barely even spoken to Alex or Reggie through the entire faculty performance. Instead, when he’d found something beautiful or impressive, he’d leaned over and whispered in Julie’s ear, and she had smiled and agreed with him, endearment on her features. Couple that with the fact that they’d accidentally worn the same colors, and it felt like they’d just gone to a spring formal together as dates. If he was going to do anything about these feelings before their time at camp was up, he’d have to do it soon. They only had one more day until the performance. The morning had gone by in a blur, each day at camp passing quicker than the one before it, what with taking group photos and running through Complicated again, plus final meetings with their private coaches. He’d barely had the opportunity to speak to Alex or Reggie, let alone Julie, about anything important. However, it was lunch break again, and Julie and Flynn had conveniently gone to sit at a different table so that Julie could meet some of Flynn’s audio tech acquaintances, leaving the boys alone. 

“Guys, I hate to admit it, but you were right,” Luke said, playing with the straw in his cup. 

“About what?” Alex asked. 

“About Julie,” he replied. “And our chemistry, or  
whatever.” 

“I thought this day would never come,” Reggie quipped dramatically. 

“Oh, shut up. I just had to think about it a little, you know? We’ve only known her for a week.” 

“It feels like a lot longer than that, though,” Alex mused. 

“Yeah, it does,” Luke agreed. “I’m thinking about telling her how I feel before we go home.” 

“Really?” Reggie wondered. 

“Why shouldn’t I? It’s not like I’m going to get another chance anytime soon,” Luke said. 

“No, it’s not that you shouldn’t. I guess I just didn’t expect that you would,” Reggie said. 

“Yeah, and if it helps boost your morale a bit, she’s pretty obviously into you, too,” Alex pointed out. 

Luke nodded. “I kind of figured that out last night, if I’m honest. The whole thing kind of seemed like a date.” 

“That’s because it was,” Alex said, eyes light with mischief. “You just didn’t know it yet.” 

“Right,” Luke laughed. “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this way about a girl before,” he admitted softly. “I mean, we’ve all had our crushes, but Julie’s different. We have music to connect over too. It’s just…”

“Yeah,” Reggie agreed. “You feel like you’ve found your person.” 

“Something like that,” Luke said. “It just sucks that she lives so far away.” 

“Yeah, that’s a bit daunting,” Alex concurred. 

“I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it,” Luke decided. “I haven’t even told her I like her yet.” 

“Well, here’s to you not royally messing up when you do it,” Reggie said, far too brightly for such a grim prospect. 

Luke chuckled. “Thanks boys.”

“And for what it’s worth,” Alex said now. “Julie is one of the best friends I’ve made in a long time. You play off of one another so well, and it’s just. You both deserve something like this.” 

Luke decided that was the nicest thing he would probably hear all day. 

//

Julie wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when Luke invited her to go on a walk with him. They had finished most of their important rehearsing and had some free time before dinner when he’d offered. She had looked over to Alex and Reggie to see if this was a group activity, but Alex had muttered something about wanting to call Willie at the phones and Reggie had said he needed to talk to Mr. Wilson about something. So now, she and Luke were walking out of the hut into the woods around them, searching for a nice little trail to hike on. 

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Luke said as they stepped onto the walking path. 

“Yeah, the sun feels nice,” Julie agreed.

“I’m not going to miss the quiet when I go back to the city though,” Luke said. “It’s weirdly less peaceful here than it is in the middle of all the action.” 

“That’s because you thrive on noise, Luke. You’re like a little Energizer bunny.” 

Julie watched as a smile spread across Luke’s face. “Well, there’s always something new to chase,” he mused. “Speaking of which, are you excited for tomorrow or what? Even Ms. Harrison looked impressed when we played Finally Free for her today.”

“I am so excited for it that I keep making myself nervous on accident,” Julie admitted, laughing. “But we’re gonna do great. I can feel it.” 

They walked in silence for a little bit, birds singing above them, and suddenly Julie felt the back of her hand brush against Luke’s as they took a stride. They both seemed to notice it, but Julie wasn’t about to make any sort of comment on the matter. She was not going to make a fool of herself, thank you very much. As it turns out, Julie didn’t have to do anything, because Luke was taking her hand very decidedly and waffling their fingers together. 

“Is… is this okay?” he asked. 

Julie tilted her head up to gaze into his eyes. 

“Yeah, it’s more than okay, actually,” she replied. 

“Julie, I know we haven’t known each other for very long, and it’s kinda crazy, but. You’re one of the kindest, most talented girls I’ve ever met. I mean that.”

Julie felt something well up in her heart, and replied, “So are you, Luke. And you better come visit me this fall. I’m not gonna have you flaking on me.”

Luke’s hand was constant in hers, and she almost melted when he began to lightly brush his thumb along her wrist.

“I’d never leave you hanging, Jules. I mean, I think it’s probably pretty obvious by now that I like you,” he said softly. 

Julie had theoretically known this before, but hearing Luke say it made the butterflies in her stomach go haywire again. She stopped walking, and turned to look into his eyes, which were big and doelike. 

“Yeah, I kind of figured it out,” she replied. “And I like you too. Even if this is all a bit fast.” 

Luke smiled. “It doesn’t have to mean anything if we don’t want it to, you know. With us living far away from each other, and we just met, so I get if you aren’t comfortable with doing anything-“

“Luke, relax,” she interrupted. “We can figure it out later. And you know you’ll always have me as a friend, no matter what we decide to do about our feelings. Let’s just enjoy the rest of camp, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed, contentment on his features. 

Julie broke into a grin, and decided just then to hug him. 

“You’re the best,” she mumbled into his chest. 

“No, you,” he returned, laughing. 

They stood there for a little bit, just holding each other. Luke’s arms were steady and engulfing, and Julie found herself relaxing more and more into the embrace. It was like coming home. 

//


	7. Saturday

SATURDAY

“Well guys, it’s been a great week,” Reggie was saying over oatmeal in the dining hall. “Oh! I just realized we need to get everyone’s phone numbers.”

“Oh yeah,” Julie said. “Hang on, I have some paper. We can pass it around.” 

“Sick,” Reggie replied. 

Luke looked around the cafeteria that had been their home for the last week. As much as he was loath to admit it, he was going to miss the crabby line cooks and the wilty salad and the surprisingly tasty ice cream sandwiches. And here he was, an hour into their last day at camp, already getting nostalgic and wistful over it. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that he’d only be able to contact Julie through a FaceTime call after tonight, but he was determined to not get too put out over it. Live in the moment, right? That was his motto anyway. 

Julie passed him a small sheet of notebook paper, on which she’d written “phone numbers :)” in neat, loopy handwriting. He snatched a pen from Alex, quickly scrawling his name, phone number, and social media usernames, before handing the paper to Reggie. 

“I cannot wait to hear how amazing this song of y’all’s is,” Flynn commented from her spot near the wall. “And the fact that I get to sound engineer it? It’s going to be so amazing.” 

“Well, we’ll be sure to blow your mind,” Reggie responded in a jokingly flirtatious tone, winking at her. 

Alex shook his head, Luke laughed, and Julie got a thoroughly amused smile on her face. 

“Dude, I may have said you were a good-looking guy before, but that just made you ten times less attractive,” Flynn deadpanned, taking a bite of a strawberry. 

Reggie pretended to look hurt before breaking out into a grin, saying, “It’s not my fault no one can appreciate my effortless charm.” 

“Luke, what the hell,” Julie exclaimed now, “is this handwriting? How do you even pass classes in school with this chicken scratch?”

“Yeah, I know, it sucks. Have Alex write it instead,” Luke commented passively. 

“Here,” Alex said. 

“Jesus Christ,” he could hear Julie muttering under her breath. 

They continued talking and laughing until it was well past the time to clear their table, never seeming to get enough conversation before they had to go in for their soundcheck. Yeah, Luke was gonna miss this. 

//

For all intents and purposes, the soundcheck had gone extremely well, and Julie was feeling great about the real performance, which would be happening just after lunch. Of course, everyone’s parents were set to arrive over the lunch break, so Julie found herself waiting outside the dining hall, trying to catch a glimpse of her mother’s curly hair. 

“Julie?” A voice said from behind her. 

“Mom?” she replied, recognizing it instantly. 

“Hey! How are you?” her mom said, pulling Julie in for a hug. 

“I’m great! It’s been a really cool week. Hey Carlos! Hey Dad,” she greeted. 

“Did you meet any cool rockstars this week?” Carlos asked, his eyes wide. 

“Of course,” she said. “And guess what? I’m performing with them.” 

Julie gave her brother a conspiratorial look, and he smirked back at her. 

“Well, we’re going to go find our seats,” her dad was saying. “We’ll see you after the performance. Break a leg! I know you’ll do amazing, sweetie!” 

“Love you,” her mom called as they walked away. 

“Love you too!” she yelled back. 

Julie felt an immense sense of gratitude as her family walked away. She truly was blessed. The time on her watch read 12:45, which meant she needed to find the guys and get down into the basement of the auditorium. The performance would start in fifteen minutes. After a little hassle, they made it down, sitting along a concrete wall, waiting. 

“Alright guys,” Luke said, gathering them into a huddle. “We’ve worked hard this week, and not to sound sappy or whatever, but we’re gonna do great up there. I care about all of you so much. And one of these days, we’re going to have to get Julie and her phantoms back together. We’ll plan something. But right now, we’re going to go on stage, and rock the hell out of that auditorium. Yeah?” 

“Yeah!” they all replied. 

Julie meandered her way through the dark corridors of backstage, just faintly able to see her keyboard waiting for her on stage right. She looked over at the guys, Alex fiddling with his fingers, Reggie relaxed, Luke confident. This was their time to shine. 

“Alrighty, our last band for the day has done something pretty special with their time at camp,” Ms. Harrison began at the front of the stage. “They decided not only to perform a cover of a song, but also to write their own together. With the help of myself and some other faculty, they created an upbeat, inspirational tune about finding your voice and finding freedom. It has been so fun for me to watch these four teenagers come into themselves and create music that is worth being proud of, and I hope you all feel as excited as I did the first time I heard them play together. So without further ado, I would like to present Julie and the Phantoms!” 

The auditorium applauded, and Julie could hear Alex whisper to Luke “Nice speech,” and then they were walking into the spotlights. Julie found her spot at the piano, checking to make sure it was on and the settings were correct. 

“Hello everybody,” she said into her mic. “I’m Julie. We’re going to play a little song for you called Complicated by Avril Lavigne.”

Then, they were off. The piano keys felt pliant beneath her hands, just waiting for her to make something beautiful with the tones they created. Their second performance of Complicated went much like their first. She drew the audience in with the quiet introduction, and then the boys came crashing in on the chorus, all fire and grit. And then, on the lull of the bridge, Luke walked over to her and shared the mic, just like they had at the showcase, but somehow it meant more now that they’d discussed their feelings. It felt enthralling, but it also felt comfortable too. She could’ve stayed like that forever, gazing into his eyes, but as always the moment ended and she found herself back at the keyboard, playing the final notes of the song. 

The audience clapped, Julie could hear loud cheers coming from her dad as she stepped off the keyboard for a moment. 

“Thank you,” she said. “I just wanted to say, before we play this song we wrote for everyone, that this has been the best week of my life. I have made true friends because of this camp, I’ve grown as a musician, and I just want to thank all you parents for sending us kids here, and supporting us. It means the world. We’ve all got a spark in us, and it’s our calling to fan it into flames. Here’s to the dreamers. This song is called Finally Free.”

The chords came easy to her as she played the introduction to the song. In fact, the entire song seemed to come easy, from the soft beginning to the pounding of the drum beat in the build, to when the chorus finally hit and everything seemed to explode into pure power. Julie found her way across the stage, trying to connect with the audience and impart the message to them. She could just make out her mom’s eyes in the crowd, shimmering bright, and she sent a smile in her direction, a sort of thank you. She found her way back to the mic stand as Luke began to sing with her, and she made eye contact with him. He was all admiration, and she couldn’t help but laugh into the notes. Then, the second chorus hit, and Julie jumped up and down at the edge of the stage, looking down at some beaming elementary school kids in awe of the lights. She turned back to see Luke and Reggie crowding a microphone, harmonizing with her, and Alex behind the drums, full of pure joy. Man, she loved this. 

Julie would have to do some thinking into why bridges always seemed to be the connection point for her and Luke, because here they were again, doing a call and response to one another, and it was all so electrifying and bright, Julie thought her heart might pound out of her chest. Luke was like a thunderstorm, beautiful and powerful and probably dangerous in some way, but also strangely comforting, and she wanted to get caught up in the wind and the rain and the intensity of it all. There was something in his eyes when he sang “you’re a part of me”, and she thought, not for the first time, that singing with Luke felt a lot like coming home. Then, Alex played a fill, and the third chorus was crashing in, and Luke and Reggie took over the melody line as she belted above them. She’d been a little nervous for those notes, but she thankfully remembered to breathe and utilize her air, and they came easy. Then suddenly, the song was ending, and the audience was giving them a standing ovation, and she was walking to the front of the stage to take a bow with her friends. 

“Ahhhh!” she yelled into Alex’s ear as he hugged her. “Oh my god, we did it.” 

Reggie and Luke piled in, and they had one nice big group hug on stage in front of everyone (which Julie didn’t know how to feel about, if she were honest). Then, Ms. Harrison took her place at the microphone, and they were being shooed off stage and into the basement, where their families were supposed to meet them. 

“That went so well,” Reggie was saying as he put his bass back into its case. 

“It went more than well, Reggie, we rocked that place!” Luke enthused. 

Julie’s family suddenly walked into the room, and she waved them over. 

“Oh my goodness, honey,” her mom was saying as she scooped her into a hug. “That was beautiful. You were so amazing up there! And boys! You too!” 

“Thanks, Mrs. Molina,” Alex replied. 

“Oh please, call me Rose,” she said. “We just came down to get a picture of you guys all together and to tell you all what an awesome job you did, and then we’ll leave you be. Dad’s got the car running, so whenever you’re ready Julie, we can leave.” 

“Perfect,” Julie said. 

The band let themselves be arranged in a nice little pose by Julie’s mom, and she took some pictures of them, which were probably very cheesy, but Julie decided that was how these photos deserved to be. Then Carlos made some comments about how cool Luke was playing guitar, and Luke had ruffled his hair, which Julie had noticed was his way of showing affection. Finally, her family left. 

“My parents just texted me,” Alex said, looking at the phone he’d just had returned to him by the faculty. “They’re waiting in the other corner. I should probably go.”

His smile looked a little sad, like he didn’t want to leave yet, but Julie just captured him in another hug, saying, “I love you man. I really do. Don’t forget to call.” 

“I love you too,” he said, his eyes watery. “I’ll see you guys at home,” he told the boys. 

So, Alex was off, maneuvering his way through the throng of people. 

“Hey, Reggie,” a gruff male voice said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Hi Dad,” Reggie replied, looking down. “Yeah. Let me say goodbye to my friends first.” 

“Sure,” he replied, noncommittally. 

And so it was time to say goodbye to Reggie, too. 

“Reggie, never stop being your weird, dorky self,” Julie said. “You can always call, yeah?” 

“Oh trust me, I am going to be organizing some wild group FaceTime sessions in the coming days,” he replied, trying to seem light. “I’m going to miss you, Jules.” 

“Yeah, me too,” she said, hugging him. “Love you.” 

“You too,” Reggie said. “Alright, Dad. Let’s go.” 

Luke waved to his friend, muttering something about how they had to get together to play video games next week, and then turned back to Julie. 

“Well, looks like our time’s up, huh?” he said. 

“Seems that way,” Julie replied. 

Luke’s eyes were bright, if a little teary. “You’ve made this the best week of my life, Julie Molina.” 

“So have you, Luke Patterson. I’m glad you ran into me during registration. Even if I did embarrass myself in front of everyone.” 

“Eh, it was worth it,” he laughed. 

Julie took Luke’s hand, brushing her fingers across his rings, not really sure what exactly she was asking for, or if this was the right time. 

“I know we said we’d play this whole thing by ear,” Julie said slowly. “But I just want to say. I’m cool if you are. With… getting together or something. We don’t have to decide today, but I’ll be getting my driver’s license soon, so I could come see you, and you know this band isn’t going to go away anytime soon. We’re far too good for that.”

“I’d be cool with that, Jules,” Luke replied, beaming. “You’re a star. I’m not gonna give something up just because it might be a bit of a challenge.”

Julie laughed. “I don’t think you know how to do anything that isn’t a challenge. But that’s what makes you so amazing.” 

She looked up into his eyes, which were full of love and emotion, and he brushed his hand into her hair, tucking it behind her ear tenderly. The mood changed, and the din of all the people bustling around her seemed to lessen. She quirked her eyebrow, a kind of question, and Luke answered, but not with words. He leaned down, holding her face, and kissed her. 

Julie supposed the kiss itself was nothing to write home about, especially since she hadn’t exactly kissed anyone before and didn’t know what she was doing, but it didn’t matter. It meant something. Luke’s lips were gentle and moist, even if Julie could tell he needed to use more chapstick. It was over as quickly as it had begun, light, tender, and chaste, a promise more than passion, but Julie found that it was exactly what the moment needed. Luke pulled away, and Julie hugged him, sighing into his shirt. 

“I’m gonna miss you so much,” she said. 

“Yeah, me too. Text me when you get on the road,” Luke said, his hands in her hair. 

“I will,” Julie promised, breaking the hug. “Maybe we can get together in a few weeks.” 

“Yeah, probably, after I get back from my vacation,” Luke replied. 

“I’ll see you later,” Julie called as she walked away. “Don’t die! I’d kinda be really sad if that happened!” 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Luke replied, laughing.

Julie chuckled to herself. He was such a dork, but he was her dork, now. 

//

So, all in all, the camp experience had been everything it was chalked up to be. Julie had learned a lot from her instructors, made new friends, managed to avoid Carrie most of the time, and acquired a boyfriend, who she was currently texting as she sat in her car on the drive home. It seemed that Reggie had already made a groupchat entitled “Julie and the Phantoms :D”, while Alex was sending her photos of him and Willie being adorable. Her conversation with Luke consisted of mostly Spotify links, but she couldn’t say she expected much else. Her parents sat in the front seat, talking politics, and Carlos had his earbuds in, watching a movie. Flynn turned to look at her, a question in her eyes. 

“So… what happened with Luke?” she asked. 

“Well, let’s just say that I won’t have to pretend that you and I are dating when someone asks if I have a boyfriend anymore,” Julie replied coolly. 

Flynn’s jaw dropped. “Aw, look, my little baby’s all grown up!” 

“Oh, shut up,” Julie said, smacking her in the shoulder. 

“I’m never going to stop teasing you about the fact that you had the most cliche beginning to this relationship. I mean, c’mon. Summer camp? Him knocking you over on accident? It’s perfect Hallmark movie material,” Flynn said. 

“It is,” Julie agreed. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

Flynn smiled. 

//

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all so much for reading :)  
> If you feel so compelled, please leave a kudos and/or a comment. They really do mean the world to us writers.   
> My tumblr is tiriansjewel if you would like to follow me.   
> -Hannah


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